Hi there. I’m a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who writes about communities, culture and characters. My work has appeared in The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington City Paper, The New Republic and Pacific Standard, among others.

I spent five years covering environmental and regulatory policy for the newsletter, Inside EPA. Before that, I worked at a variety of daily newspapers around the country. Those jobs took me lots of places: inside a pot bust in a military helicopter, a marriage mended by a billboard, and a whole lot of legislative proposals, budget documents and heated board meetings. I love writing about cities, real life characters, cultural trends, the internet, and why things are the way they are. Check them all out here. I also write periodic updates on life as a freelancer/teacher and musings on the news and topics I care about here.

I’m currently interested in exploring our education system and how to foster civic engagement in both my journalism and work as an adjunct professor of English at the University of the District of Columbia’s Community College.

I’m Boston-born and Minneapolis-bred, a former figure skater and an alumna of Northwestern University and Johns Hopkins University’s master’s in nonfiction writing program. I wear big sunglasses a lot and make great gazpacho.